State moves to lift court order blocking pot shop licenses after residency requirement rejected

Now that Rhode Island has eliminated the residency requirement for recreational pot shop owners, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission is asking a federal judge to undo the court order that halted its first round of applications.

Gov. Dan McKee on June 10 signed a pair of bills to undo a provision in the original 2022 Rhode Island Cannabis Act that required cannabis retailers be majority-owned by Rhode Island resident. The new law voids the original application process and kickstarts a new one.

Under the new law, applicants are defined as a person or a business who has “made an application for issuance of a license or certificate to own or engage in a cannabis business.”

The legislation also removes any Rhode Island references in the eligibility criteria for applying for one of six social equity licenses, which are reserved for those adversely affected by the war on drugs. Now businesses must be majority owned by one or more people who can show they were disproportionally impacted by criminal enforcement of past prohibitions, including being arrested or having a family member who was.

Those changes, the state’s legal team argues, should be enough to undo the April 8 preliminary injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose, blocking regulators from holding the lottery they were planning to hold in May to award licenses. DuBose also stopped regulators from continuing to screen and review any of the retail license applications that had been submitted by the Dec. 29, 2025, deadline. 

DuBose’s ruling came as she considered three lawsuits challenging the state’s original requirement that all recreation pot shop license holders had to be majority-owned by Rhode Island residents.

The Cannabis Control Commission on Friday filed a motion requesting DuBose dissolve the preliminary injunction.

“The goals of this court’s preliminary injunction have now been made permanent by the General Assembly’s legislative action,” state attorneys wrote in their motion. “Thus, this court’s preliminary injunction is now moot and essentially a legal nullity.”

The legislation signed into law by McKee directs the Cannabis Control Commission to open a new license application process within 60 days, which would be Aug. 10.

Charon Rose, a spokesperson for the commission said staff are still planning their next steps.

“We’re hopeful that once we get the go-ahead with the appropriate people that we can get the process moving again,” she said.

Around 100 applications are still in limbo, with many continuing to pay rent on storefronts they may not even be able to open. While they may not be able to get their rent payments back, the new cannabis law allows any would-be shop owners who applied the first time for a license to be refunded any fees paid to the commission. 

All prospective retailers are required to pay an application fee of $7,500 and a yearly $30,000 licensing fee. Fees were waived for the first year for approved social equity applicants.

No refunds have been issued as of Monday, Rose confirmed.